“Today marks a major milestone in our work as we build a portfolio of comparative clinical effectiveness research that will provide patients and those who care for them with the information they need to make better-informed choices about the healthcare decisions they face,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD. “These research projects reflect PCORI’s patient-centered research agenda, emphasizing the inclusion of patients and caregivers at all stages of the research.”

The projects were approved by the PCORI Board of Governors through a competitive, multi-stage review process that incorporated patients, caregivers and other stakeholders in the evaluation of proposals. Applications were evaluated on scientific merit, engagement of patients and other stakeholders, methodological rigor and whether they fit within PCORI’s research priorities and research agenda.

The awards were part of PCORI’s first cycle of primary research funding and selected from among nearly 500 completed applications submitted earlier this year. All proposals were approved pending a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and completion of a formal award contract.

The projects approved for funding include those that will study ways to improve care for people with such health problems as bacterial and viral infections, cardiovascular disease and stroke, certain cancers, chronic kidney disease, chronic pain, depression and other serious mental illness, and pediatric diabetes, as well cross-cutting proposals investigating how to improve care for people with multiple conditions. Other projects seek ways to improve patient-clinician communication, reduce selected health disparities, and improve the way healthcare systems operate.

“The approved projects propose innovative ways to study a range of serious health conditions that affect tens of millions of Americans, across diverse populations and parts of the country,” said PCORI Board of Governors member Grayson Norquist, MD, who chaired the proposal selection committee. “These not only are scientifically rigorous proposals that follow the highest standards for research but also were judged by our reviewers to be patient-centered, with research teams that will engage the populations who are the focus of the studies.”

The approved research projects, based at institutions in 17 states, resulted from PCORI Funding Announcements issued on May 22. PCORI sought proposals for research that would provide patients and those who care for them with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions.